Fostering Ethical Professional Formation Professor Neil Hamilton University of St. Thomas (MN)

Four Ideas to Take Home 1. Ethical Professional Formation Can Occur Over a Career 2. How Ethical Professional Identity is Understood Depends on a Person’s Predominant Stage of Identity Development 3. Higher Stages Contribute to Professional Effectiveness 4. Legal Education Can Foster Ethical Professional Formation

Age and mental complexity: The revised view today

ETHICS OF DUTY Required Floor of Competence and Ethical Conduct EMPIRICAL PROFESSIONAL ETHICS: A DEVELOPMENTAL MODEL OF PROFESSIONALISM* MEETING MINIMUM STANDARDS of the Rules of Professional Conduct & Avoiding Malpractice MEETING MINIMUM STANDARDS of the Rules of Professional Conduct & Avoiding Malpractice INTERNALIZING EXCELLENCE at Technical Skills, and the Core Principles and Ideals (displayed below): Loyalty to Client Confidentiality Public Service Respect for the Legal System Zealous Advocacy Independence of Professional Judgment Peer Review Integrity Honesty Fairness Self Restraint in Seeking Sustainable Profits INTERNALIZING EXCELLENCE at Technical Skills, and the Core Principles and Ideals (displayed below): Loyalty to Client Confidentiality Public Service Respect for the Legal System Zealous Advocacy Independence of Professional Judgment Peer Review Integrity Honesty Fairness Self Restraint in Seeking Sustainable Profits The development and integration of personal and professional ethics over a career represent the highest level of professionalism. ETHICS OF ASPIRATION Core Principles & Ideals of the Profession Knowledge, Skill, and Conduct Observed PERSONAL CONSCIENCE Rest’s Four Component Model of Morality (1983) INTERIOR (INTRAPERSONAL) CAPACITIES Perceptual Clarity & Empathy Reasoning & Judgment Moral Motivation & Identity and CONSCIENCE IN ACTION (Interpersonal Abilities) Social- Emotional & Cognitive Capacities 5Lawyer Identity Across the Career Span *Adapted from Hamilton (2008); Rest (1983); and Boyatzis’s (1982) model developing managerial competencies, this graphic (1) shows most observable skills and behavior as the outer layer, as well as the inner social-emotional and cognitive capacities of morality, and (2) suggests a dynamic process among the three dimensions of professionalism. © Neil Hamilton and Verna Monson, 2009.

Fostering Professional Identity from the Inside Out Typical approach to developing ethical professional identity: focus on “surface layers” – the Ethics of Duty and some of the Ethics of Aspiration Result is “surface professionalism” which “... sidesteps issues of identity and treats professionalism as something physicians can put on and take off like one’s stethoscope. “* * Quote attributed to Fred Hafferty, in Muriel J. Bebeau & Verna E. Monson, Guided by theory, grounded in evidence: A way forward for professional ethics education. In D. Narvaez & L. Nucci (Eds.), Handbook on moral and character education. Hillsdale, NJ: Routledge, (2008). 6Lawyer Identity Across the Career Span

Fostering ethical professional identity from the inside out To foster lasting, authentic change, education should focus more on the inner core of ethical professional identity – Personal Conscience – or growth of professionalism from the inside out - What former director of the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Dr. David Leach calls “authentic professionalism” David C. Leach, Lawyer Identity Across the Career Span 7

How professionalism or ethical professional identity is understood depends on one’s predominant stage of identity development Lifespan identity development theory (Kegan, 1994) Bebeau, 2002; Narvaez & Lapsley, Lawyer Identity Across the Career Span

Four pilot studies on 3 rd component of ethical professional identity What does professionalism or an ethical, professional identity mean to you? 1. August, 2009, entering class, before school starts 2. Five year alumni class 3. Exemplary lawyers selected by state or county bar association for a professionalism award 4. Longitudinal study of the August, 2009 class.

Professional Identity Stage 2: The Independent Operator View self and others View self and others  as independent operators, with own agendas and interests  through lens of individual interest Success measured by concrete attainments Success measured by concrete attainments Role expectations are fixed, concrete, black & white Role expectations are fixed, concrete, black & white Motivation to meet standards: Desire to be correct and effective (a fixed mindset) Motivation to meet standards: Desire to be correct and effective (a fixed mindset) JAMES RULE & MURIEL J. BEBEAU, JAMES RULE & MURIEL J. BEBEAU, Lawyer Identity Across the Career Span 10

Professional Identity Stage 3: The Team-Oriented Professional Identity Stage 3: The Team-Oriented Idealist View self and others in terms of: View self and others in terms of:  shared interconnections  shared values, mutual expectations, and identification with institutional ideals and principles Can take multiple perspectives simultaneously Can take multiple perspectives simultaneously Are idealistic and internally self-reflective Are idealistic and internally self-reflective See professionalism as meeting the expectations of those who are more knowledgeable, more legitimate, and more professional See professionalism as meeting the expectations of those who are more knowledgeable, more legitimate, and more professional SEE RULE & BEBEAU, SEE RULE & BEBEAU, Lawyer Identity Across the Career Span 11

Professional Identity Stage 4: The Self-Defining Professional Identity Stage 4: The Self-Defining Professional Forging a personal system of values and internal processes for evaluating those shared identities Forging a personal system of values and internal processes for evaluating those shared identities Possessing an internal compass for negotiating and resolving tensions among multiple, shared expectations Possessing an internal compass for negotiating and resolving tensions among multiple, shared expectations Identity no longer embedded within the professional role Identity no longer embedded within the professional role Can “think outside the box” – become change agents for the profession Can “think outside the box” – become change agents for the profession Able to shift perspectives, roles Able to shift perspectives, roles See Rule & Bebeau, 2005 See Rule & Bebeau, 2005 Lawyer Identity Across the Career Span 12

Identity scores, compared with past studies (modal stage in red, boldface, large type) StudyStage2Stage 2 / 3 Stage3Stage 3 / 4 Stage4 Stage 4 / 5 Eigel, 1998, CEOs, n= (81%) 4 (19%) Eigel, 1998, middle managers, n=21 02(10%)7(33%)010(48%)1 (5%) (5%) Lewis et al., 2005, professional military cadets (freshmen), n=38 8 (21%) (21%) 24 (63%) 6(16%)000 Lewis et al., 2005, professional military cadets (senior), n=32 2(6%)10(31%)14(44%)6(19%)0 Monson & Bebeau, 2006, dental students (freshmen), n=94 12(13%) 48 (51%) 18(19%)12 (13%) (13%)4 (4%) (4%)0 Monson & Hamilton, 2010, law students, n=88, 14(16%)22(25%) 29 (33%) 22(25%)1(1%) Roehrich & Bebeau, 2005, dental students (freshmen), n=46 6(13%) 32 (70%) 4 (7%) (7%)4(7%)00 Snook et al., 2008, Harvard MBA students, n=26 9(35%)7 (27%) (27%)9 (35%) (35%) Lawyer Identity Across the Career Span 13

Internalization of an Ethical Professional Identity Over a Career Table 1 USMA Developmental Level Scores Kegan Stage Freshmen Seniors Mid-Career Senior Class/1998 Class/ 1998 Officers Officers Stage 221%6%0%0% Transition to 363%28%31%0% Stage 316%47%23%11% Transition to 40%19%8%40% Stage 40%0%38%50%

Alignment of Elements of an Ethical Professional Identity with Empirical Evidence on Lawyer Effectiveness Shultz & Zedeck (2008) (asking what qualities would 2,000 respondents look for in an attorney to represent respondent in an important matter) Respondents identified Quality of Character as one umbrella category (including diligence, integrity/honesty, public service, and reflective self-assessment). Relationship skills like listening, the ability to see the world through the eyes of others, teamwork, networking, and counseling were important.

NALP 2006 Survey of 124 Managing Partners on Associate Assessment The most important factors in assessment of associates were: 1. Excellent quality of the work; 2. Relationship skills with both clients and other attorneys and staff; and 3. Billable hours.

Carnegie Foundation on Educating Physicians (2010) “Professional formation” is the “foundational goal of the learning process.” It is “an ongoing, self-reflective process involving habits of thinking, feeling, and acting…(that) ideally develop in ways that allow learners to demonstrate compassionate, communicative, and socially responsible physician-hood.”

Carnegie Foundation’s Curricular Recommendations 1. Curriculum that fosters self-reflection, formative feedback and assessment. Learners engage with perspectives different from their own to examine their own values, beliefs, and assumptions. Safe supportive forums, trusted small groups of peers, regular reflective writing for discussing issues related to professional formation.

Carnegie Recommendations Continued 2. Content of discussion relevant to developmental level and experience of students. 3. Mentoring, story-telling by exemplary professionals with discussion, modeling, developing relationships with faculty who support learners and hold them to high standards, and creating collaborative or team learning environments committed to excellence and continuous learning.

Conditions for Growth and Development Foster a climate of “optimal conflict” (Kegan & Lahey, 2009, p.54) “The persistent experience of some frustration, dilemma, life puzzle, quandary, or personal problem that is... “The persistent experience of some frustration, dilemma, life puzzle, quandary, or personal problem that is... Designed to cause us to feel the limits of our current way of knowing... Designed to cause us to feel the limits of our current way of knowing... In some sphere of our living that we care about, with... In some sphere of our living that we care about, with... Sufficient supports so that we are neither overwhelmed by the conflict nor able to escape or diffuse it.” Sufficient supports so that we are neither overwhelmed by the conflict nor able to escape or diffuse it.” 20 Lawyer Identity Across the Career Span

Four Ideas to Take Home 1. Ethical Professional Formation Can Occur Over a Career 2. How Ethical Professional Identity is Understood Depends on a Person’s Predominant Stage of Identity Development 3. Higher Stages Contribute to Professional Effectiveness 4. Legal Education Can Foster Ethical Professional Formation